With gift certificate in hand, I made my way down to the local wakeboard shop. Scanning the store for something to buy, I came across a video from Collin Wright called "The Movement". I had read about the video a while back and wanted to check it out but never did. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I snatched up the video, brought it to the checkout counter, and bought it. Once I got home and popped it in the VCR, I quickly realized it was a purchase well made.

Concept: The concept of The Movement is simple. It concentrates on six riders; each of which have their own section. Unlike other videos, The Movement is not littered with irrelevant scenes or unnecessary commentary. The Movement is about showing people who, rather than talk, prefer to "just ride".

Cinematography: The cinematography is one thing that makes The Movement such a good flick. Collin took a streamlined approach to the editing of this video and chose to let the riding speak for itself. The video is not full of ornate effects and transitions which can sometimes be distracting. The thing I most enjoyed about the cinematography was the sparing use of slow motion which gives the viewer a truer sense of the rider's style.

Length: The credits start to roll at around twenty-one minutes. It sounds short, but aside from the intro, the video has no off the water scenes so the riding footage is around the same length of other videos; if not more.

Music: There is an eclectic mix of music in The Movement which flows well throughout the video. Each song is upbeat and fits nicely with the riding. Artists in the video include De La Soul, The Vandals, and ODB.

Riding

The reason I liked this video so much is because it concentrates almost exclusively on the thing I am most interested in when I sit down to watch a video; the riding. Each rider gets ample time in front of the camera and most of the sections include some uncut riding.

Intro: I always enjoy a good introduction. The Movement does a good job of introducing each rider in the video. The one thing that could have made it better is if the tricks shown would have been original and not repeated later in the video.

Jeff McKee: Before watching The Movement, I had not seen much video footage of Jeff. I always hear about riders that should receive more coverage and I can say with certainty that Jeff is one rider that definitely should. Jeff has a super smooth, totally laid back style. His riding is very well rounded and most of his moves are laced with a solid grab and a smooth landing. Jeff does a good deal of spinning in the video, along with handle pass inverts and rail slides.

Greg Nelson: I have been watching Nelson in videos for years and I still maintain that he is one of the smoothest, most fluid riders. He links his moves together like no other and his style is truly unique. The video shows him doing plenty of spins including back to back 540s and an off axis 720 off the wake.

Jake Huso: Huso has received very sporadic media coverage over the past few years. To my knowledge, this is his first major video appearance. Huso's riding looks good, especially his grabbed heelside 5s into the flats. Huso does a lot of grabbed spins in the video and also sticks in a few inverts.

Billy McKee: Billy's riding is sick. He's got an intense, crouched style that looks really good. He grabs just about everything, including his mobes and heelside handle pass 7s off the wake. Billy also does some pretty cool wrapped toeside and heelside spins.

Crash Section: The crash section serves as a good intermission for the video. The crashes are not only entertaining but also show all the hard work that goes into learning and mastering a move.

Leslie Kent: If you didn't already know it, Leslie's got it going on. She is one of the best female riders and has no problem setting down the big moves. Slob Front to fakie, Pete Rose, grabbed 5s - no problem. She also shows off some of her wakeskating skills in the video; pulling off wake to wake 180s and a shuvit. Throughout her section, Collin's editing provides a visual and audible interpretation explaining that Leslie Kent is *HOT*.

Collin Wright: Collin's riding still amazes me. I consider myself a pretty good call on tricks but some of Collin's moves still have me hitting the rewind button to figure out exactly what he did. Not surprisingly, his section is full of tech spins like tail grab 360s, switch toeside Melan 3s, and double grab backside 180s. Collin also does a good bit of rail sliding in this video, both on his wakeboard and wakeskate.

Rating: The Movement may not be the most recent video to be released but it is definitely a wakeboard movie that deserves a second look if you haven't already picked up a copy. Its emphasis on riding and lack of filler make it a good video to watch whether it is the first or 100th time. For these reasons, The Movement gets 4.25 out of 5 stars.